The typical industrial sweeper is a motor driven vehicle that employs a rotating broom to lift debris from a surface such as a floor. The sweeper also typically includes a vacuum system that establishes a directional airstream adjacent to the broom to pull the debris that has been lifted by the broom into a hopper where the heavier debris precipitates out of the airstream. The lighter debris is generally removed from the airstream by a filtering device.
Presently, most, if not all, industrial sweepers for cleaning floor surfaces and many street and municipal sweepers employ three-wheel drive/steering systems that provide the tight or short radius turning capability required by most sweeping applications. The three-wheel drive/steering systems are generally configured in a reverse tricycle arrangement that has two front non-steerable wheels and a single steerable, rear wheel. Generally, the two front wheels are the drive wheels but some sweepers drive the rear wheel. One problem with three-wheel sweepers is that the load supported by each of the wheels is, in many instances, so great that such sweepers can damage certain floors, like astroturf and tile. Three-wheel sweepers are also relatively unstable on uneven floors and therefore tend to tip, which can damage the sweeper, possibly injure the operator, and generally cause down time. Based on the foregoing, there is a need for a sweeper that addresses the aforementioned deficiencies of three-wheel sweepers while still providing the tight or short radius turning capability required in most sweeper applications.
Present sweepers also primarily rely upon a cylindrical broom, which rotates about an axis that is parallel to the floor surface, to lift debris for later deposit in the hopper. The cylindrical broom is generally located between the front and rear wheels and laterally extends no further than the edge of the sweeper body. Consequently, it is difficult, if not impossible, for the cylindrical broom to sweep the floor surface adjacent to walls and the like. Consequently, many sweepers employ a disk side broom that rotates about a vertical axis relative to the floor surface to move the debris adjacent to the wall into the path of the cylindrical broom so that debris can be picked up by the cylindrical broom and deposited in the hopper. The use of a disk side broom presents several problems. Namely, the disk side broom leaves a dusty path that is unacceptable in many applications. Moreover, the disk side broom only marginally increases the sweeping path of the sweeper. Based on the foregoing, there is a need for a sweeper that addresses the aforementioned deficiencies involved with using a disk side broom.
As previously mentioned, presently known sweepers typically employ a cylindrical broom to lift debris from the floor surface. The cylindrical broom is located in a housing structure situated between the front and rear wheels. The housing structure typically includes one or more flaps or seals that surround the broom to form a skirt with a lower edge that contacts the floor surface. The flaps or seals are generally flexible or hinged so that debris can enter the chamber and be swept up by the broom. The flaps or seals also prevent the debris that is being swept up by the broom from being thrown out from under the sweeper. Generally, the flaps or seals are bolted to a housing that surrounds the upper portion of the broom, the body, or the frame of the sweeper. Due to this bolted attachment, replacement of the flaps or seals is difficult and time consuming. Moreover, it is generally difficult to tell when a flap or seal is about to wear out or has worn out and no longer serving the aforementioned purposes. Consequently, there is a need for a flap system that can be used on sweepers to address the aforementioned problems.
As previously mentioned, the typical sweeper includes a broom that lifts debris, a vacuum to establish a directional airstream that pulls the lifted debris into the hopper where the heavy debris in the airstream precipitates out, and a filter for removing the lighter debris that remains in the airstream after passing through the hopper. Many applications involve sweeping floor surfaces of relatively fine particulate matter, such as the flour in a flour mill. In such applications, little of the particulate matter precipitates out of the airstream into the hopper. As a consequence, in such applications, the filter portion of the sweeper bears the load of removing the fine particulate matter from the airstream. As a result, in such applications, the filter tends to require frequent cleaning that increases the downtime of the sweeper and, in extreme cases, may require such frequent cleaning that the use of the sweeper becomes impractical. Consequently, there is a need for a sweeper that addresses the filter problem associated with presently known sweepers.
Another floor cleaning apparatus is a scrubber that mechanically scrubs a floor with a cleaning solution and then removes the cleaning solution from the floor. One type of scrubber is a motor driven vehicle that includes a device for spraying the floor surface with a soap or other cleaning solution, a pair of counter-rotating disk brushes for scrubbing the floor with the cleaning solution and producing a stream of wastewater in which the dirt is entrained, and a vacuum squeegee that is located behind the brushes and used to collect the wastewater for recycling. One problem with such scrubbers is that, due to the counter rotation of the disk brushes, a heavier concentration of wastewater is produced between the disk brushes and a relatively light concentration of wastewater is produced to the sides of the disk brushes. This difference in concentration can overwhelm the vacuum squeegee's ability to remove the wastewater from the floor and, as a consequence, the vacuum squeegee may leave a substantial amount of the wastewater on the floor. A further problem associated with scrubbers in general is that if solid or large debris is in the wastewater stream produced by the scrubbing brush or brushes, the vacuum squeegee may not be able to pick up the debris. In this case, the solid or large debris may cause the vacuum squeegee to leave streaks of wastewater that are discernable after the floor dries. Based on the foregoing, there is a need for a scrubber that addresses the aforementioned deficiencies with presently known scrubbers.
As previously mentioned, industrial scrubbers typically employ a vacuum squeegee for collecting wastewater for disposal or recycling. The typical vacuum squeegee includes a mount with a front edge for receiving a front squeegee rubber that has a lower edge which is disposed slightly above the floor so that water can pass thereunder, a back edge for receiving a rear squeegee that has a lower edge that contacts or seals against the floor, and a vacuum port located between the front and back edges for removing the wastewater trapped between the front and rear squeegee rubbers. Typically, the mount is curved to direct the wastewater towards the vacuum port. Operation of the typical vacuum squeegee commences with wastewater passing under the front squeegee and then being retained between the front and rear squeegees, where it is vacuumed up through the vacuum port. One problem with the typical vacuum squeegee is that the rear squeegee rubber, since it seals or drags against the floor, tends to wear out and require replacement. Presently known systems for attaching the rear squeegee rubber to a mounting structure are quite awkward and time consuming. Moreover, such mounting systems prevent the squeegee rubber from extending past the end of the mount and, as a consequence, make it difficult to run the squeegee rubber against a wall or similar structure.